Feature Stories Archive

Tour of Anchorage Celebrates Anchorage Ski Trails

Every March, the Tour of Anchorage cross country ski race follows a course from the base of the Chugach Mountains of Anchorage to the shores of Cook Inlet through terrain ranging from wilderness to the urban environment near downtown. The most scenic parts of the course include portions of the BLM's Campbell Tract National Recreation Trail. Read more>

The Thrill of the Chill: A Winter Assignment Along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

Imagine a job that takes you outside to remote areas of Alaska for extended hours, in subzero temperatures. All in a day's work for Alyssa Sterrett. Sterrett is a bologist for the Realty and Environmental Section of the Bureau of Land Management's Branch of Pipeline Monitoring. Read more>

HEALTHY LANDSCAPES: Land Use Planning for Intact Ecosystems

The Anchorage Field Office Resource Management Team met the first week of December (2014) to hammer out an initial range of draft alternatives for the Bering Sea-Western Interior RMP. The result was a week of spirited discussions by the BLM team and our cooperating agency partners... Read more>

The Old--and the New--Reindeer Industry: Midnite Sun Reindeer Ranch

Larry Davis began his herd in 1967 with 200 reindeer, and established the Midnite Sun Reindeer Ranch. While the herd grew to over 8,000 in the 1990s, the majority was swept away with wild caribou migrations. Today the Davis family is growing the herd with a blend of business savvy, science, tradition and ingenuity... Read more>

Roadhouse Exhibit Brings Iditarod History to Alaska State Fair

Visitors seeking a break from cotton candy and giant cabbages during the 2014 Alaska State Fair are invited to drop in at the Iditarod National Historic Trail exhibit. They're likely to meet other Iditarod fans and leave with "Idita-facts" to share with the folks back home... Read more>

BLM Youth Advocate Recognized by Forest Service

Congratulations to BLM land use planner Jorjena Daly of the Anchorage Field Office, who was recently recognized by the US Forest Service Region 10. Daly received the Regional Forester’s Hector Gandara Memorial Award for her work in developing recreational opportunities and natural resource career experiences for Alaskan youth... Read more>>

Students Mark Iditarod Trail Across New Conservation Lands

Students at Machetanz Elementary School have been hard at work designing an interpretive sign for the Iditarod National Historic Trail, with students from multiple grades creating the artwork, descriptions and design of the sign... Read more>

Wonder and Wildlife at BLM's Campbell Creek Science Center

Today 45 first-graders left their classrooms at Chester Valley, took a bus to the BLM Campbell Creek Science Center, split into three groups (each with their own enthusiastic outdoor guide), and embarked on a journey of outdoor discovery. For one little boy, seeing Campbell Creek for the first time was huge. “This is the longest creek ever!” ... Read more>

Little Thunderfeet at the BLM Campbell Creek Science Center

Millions of years ago in Alaska, large hadrosaur dinosaurs looked for fresh leaves while packs of lightly-built Troodons hunted for fresh meat. And all this past life was fresh in the minds of 30 kindergarten students today at the BLM Campbell Creek Science Center... Read more>

Kids & Family Ice Fishing Clinic at Silver Lake 2014

About 150 people converged on Silver Lake on the McCarthy road on Saturday, April 5th to partake in a Kids/Family Ice Fishing Day and got a full dose of Vitamin N (Nature). This popular annual event is sponsored bythe BLM Glennallen Field Office and the Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment (WISE) with help from partners, Alaska Department of Fish & Game and the National Park Service. Read More>

NPR-A: Flat Top #1 Exploration Activity

The sun is shining and the ice is shiny up here at the Flat Top drill-site, where ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. is battling a milder than usual season in a race to complete and demobilize operations before the exploration ice road thaws. Flat Top well #1 is just a few miles from the proposed GMT-1 drill site location, ... Read more>

A Wild Horse Adventure Becomes a Lifestyle

The adventure started in 1994 in Ushuaia, Argentina, when Gunter Wamser of Germany set a goal to ride wild horses from the tip of Argentina to Alaska. On September 4, 2013, nearly two decades later, Gunter arrived at his destination in Healy, Alaska with his partner Sonja Endlweber on four horses adopted from the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program. I was fortunate enough to meet up with Gunter and Sonja during the final stages of this adventure. So, of course I asked, “How does it feel to be nearing the end of a two-decade long journey?” Gunter simply smiled and replied, “Healy is not the end of the journey. I have discovered, this is my way of life.” Read more>

BLM-Alaska Campground Icons Retire

If you have visited the popular Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Sourdough Creek Campground on the banks of the Gulkana Wild and Scenic River in the past 14 years, you have probably been lucky enough to meet Volunteer Campground Host, Cathy Leonard and her husband, BLM Seasonal Maintenance Worker, Jim. Jim and Cathy started as volunteer hosts for the BLM-Alaska Glennallen Field Office (GFO) in the year 2000. Over the years, Cathy has volunteered 12,000 hours... Read more>

BLM Alaska Fire Service Shows Its Diverse Capabilities and Strength after Devastating Floods

In a unique twist of things, BLM- Alaska Fire Service (AFS) recently turned its interior wildland firefighting logistics and operations center in Galena away from firefighting and towards helping with flood relief to the devastated village... Read more>

Hooked on Healing

For our veterans returning from service to their country, the public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management can provide not only a wide variety of recreational activities, but also an opportunity to enhance physical and emotional well-being while connecting with the lands and waters they fought to protect... Read more>

As the world’s focus shifts more and more towards the Arctic, the little known BLM-Alaska supported program known as the North Slope Science Initiative (NSSI) has become a major player in Arctic science collaboration. As a Pathways graduate student and Public Affairs Specialist for the NSSI, I had a very unique opportunity as 1 of 6 representatives from the United States invited to attend the conference. Last year I became a member of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientist (APECS) and was awarded a grant through the association which covered all expenses for the trip. Read more>

The USCG Fly Arctic Mission to Assist BLM-Alaska with Its North Slope Science Initiative

On October 2, BLM-Alaska State Director Bud Cribley, along with NSSI Deputy Director Denny Lassuy and Communications Specialist Matthew Vos joined the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for an Arctic Domain flight out of Kodiak, Alaska... Read more>

BLM-Alaska Hosts Copper River Stewardship Project

The BLM-Alaska's Glennallen Field Office, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Copper River Watershed Project, Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment, Prince William Sound Science Center and several other partners worked together to host the Copper River Stewardship Project to help students understand and explore the history, ecology and challenges which link and influence ... Read more>

Capturing Alaska in Digital: BLM’s Girl Scout photo workshops

When I was a girl growing up in Maine, I learned about photography from Girl Scouts using an Eastman Kodak “Brownie” cardboard box camera. What a miracle that camera was! It took 2 ¼-inch square pictures on 120mm film, and helped me... Read More>

Indiana 5th graders learn about Alaska, the Iditarod National Historic Trail, and the BLM

Before this year's Iditarod Ceremonial Race Start in Anchorage, Alaska, Visual Information Specialist Vanessa Rathbun got a request from a 5th grade teacher from Highland Hills Middle School in Indiana which participated in last year’s tweet-chat. Read more>

A Hook for a Lifetime: Ice Fishing on Silver Lake, Alaska

It is April 6 at the Kids Ice Fishing Clinic. BLM fisheries biologist Tim Sundlov is busy showing the kids and their families how and where an ice hole is drilled, how to set up the ice fishing pole, work the reels, what kind of bait and tackle to use, and how deep to drop a line. After the excitement of catching the iridescent 17.5-inch to 22-inch rainbow trout, they learned how to safely remove the hooks, humanely handle the fish, and how to hold it for photos. Read more>

BLM & partners build collaborative education strategy

BLM-Alaska and its education partners from around the state met on March 12 to explore partnership opportunities in the education/interpretation/youth engagement arenas. The team met internally to identify current programs offered, ways to expand certain programs statewide through support of the CCSC, current and possible partners, and... Read more>

What's that howl at the BLM Campbell Tract?!

This year a record 4,000+ Iditarod enthusiasts of all ages chose to watch the March 2nd Ceremonial Start of the 41st Iditarod Sled Dog Race from the BLM Campbell Tract. Find out why... Read more>

BLM-Alaska holds public meetings on Eastern Interior RMP/EIS and Supplement

BLM-Alaska’s Eastern Interior Field Office recently held public meetings in Fairbanks and Anchorage to solicit public input on the Supplement to the Eastern Interior Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (RMP/EIS). Read more>

Anchorage Field Office SCA intern Jon Gellings was selected from a field of 75 qualified candidates to receive a Hulet Hornbeck Youth Scholarship to attend the 2013 International Trails Symposium in Phoenix. Last summer, Jon completed a trail condition assessment survey for the Campbell Tract, trail accessibility report, and a sign inventory and analysis of future sign needs, among other on-the-ground improvements. Read more>

Avalanches: Science and Safety at the BLM-Alaska Campbell Creek Science

As soon as the snow starts piling up each year, outdoor enthusiasts begin gearing up for skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and other winter activities in the backcountry. However, what seems like the perfect conditions for a day... Read more>>

Iditarod Centennial Partnership Improves a Living Piece of American History

The Iditarod National Historic Trail is celebrating its centennial through October 2012. The Iditarod NHT Centennial Partnership, led by the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, hosted a 5-year commemoration of the Trail's centennial. This non-profit membership organization also accomplished a number of Centennial Legacy projects will significantly benefit the Trail... Read more>>

BLM signs Alaska Federal Lands Long-Range Transportation Plan

On Sept. 24, BLM-Alaska State Director Bud Cribley signed the newly completed Alaska Federal Lands Long-Range Transportation Plan to help federal agencies and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities identify and prioritize Alaska’s transportation infrastructure and access on federal public lands in Alaska. Read more>

Reindeer Games on the Seward Peninsula

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) were first brought to the Seward Peninsula from Siberia in 1892 as part of a United States government-sponsored program to provide a reliable source of red meat and employment to Native Alaskans. Reindeer have shorter legs than caribou (Rangifer tarandus grantii); an experienced eye can detect the difference in the two breeds. Read more>

BLM Recognizes Alaska Homesteaders at 4th of July

BLM Alaska celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Homestead Act by recognizing some of the last homesteaders in the nation and sponsoring an exhibit at Anchorage’s 4th of July celebration. Several Alaskan homesteaders and homesteader descendants were honored as grand marshals and rode in antique cars as part of the 4th of July parade through downtown Anchorage... Read more>

Boreal Owls Along the Dalton Highway

This boreal owl chick was found wide-eyed in a nest box along the Dalton Highway where BLM-Alaska has monitored boreal owls for many years. Five fledglings were discovered in the nest boxes this summer, including this single chick. Young boreal owls fledge at 28-36 days but don’t declare full independence from their parents until 3-6 weeks after leaving the nest cavity. Take a trip to the Dalton for a chance at seeing beautiful wildlife like this and much more at the Dalton Highway Recreation Website.

Healing Waters at Tangle Lakes and Delta Wild and Scenic River corridor

It is late June in Alaska’s Delta Wild and Scenic River corridor in the time of the midnight sun.Even on cloudy days, full darkness rarely falls.In the soft dusk, several men stand thigh-deep in the Tangle River, lengths apart, their fly poles bent as they pull in their first sleek Arctic grayling along the banks of BLM’s Delta Wild and Scenic River wayside. At that instant, when the slack pole suddenly tugs and bends in an arc resembling a rainbow, there is the flash of a smile – a genuine smile -- one that some of these men have not experienced since before they were deployed to a war zone... Read more>

Youth Aquatic Ecology Camp in Copper River Valley

The Youth Aquatic Ecology Camp sponsored by the BLM-Alaska Glennallen Field Office, in partnership with Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment (WISE), is an overnight camp that will be held July 24 & 25. The camp is designed to teach Copper River Valley youth river ecology, aquatic entomology, hydrology, stream geomorphology, water quality, fish biology/behavior/anatomy, role of riparian areas, boating skills, and more... Read more>

Capturing Auroras

In the 18 years I’ve lived in Alaska, I’ve seen some spectacular photos of the auroras (northern lights). It’s only recently that I took a ‘shooting the auroras’ photography course and spent that evening in the midst of an aurora storm outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. This time, I took the photos! Once you do it, you want to do it some more! Read more>

The National Petroleum Reserve in Alaskaupclose and personal

BLM-Alaska Arctic Field Office’s Stacy McIntosh’s talk about “People, Land, & Resources” of the NPR-A will be broadcast at 2 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. by KSKA Alaska Public Radio on Memorial Day, May 31. Read more>

Galena Youth Learn how to Inventory Natural Resources & Measure Data

Galena high school students and interested local residents received 16 hours of training recently from Geographic Resource Solutions as part of BLM-Alaska’s $300,000 federal challenge cost-share grant, with matching dollars from the Alaska Energy Authority. The grant is in conjunction with a biomass feasibility study for the Galena school system that may save more than twice the study cost for each year it operates, ... Read more>

Seymour Antelope visits Alaska during the Iditarod Ceremonial Start and Runs with the Reindeer during Fur Rondy 2012

Fellow coworkers, friends and fans – Thank you so much for all of your support in the 2012 Fur Rondy events. What an exciting time it was to be visiting Alaska... Read more>

Coastal Erosion Affects BLM Arctic Lands

Imagine a place where coastal erosion rates are among the highest in the world -- and even that's increasing! The BLM currently manages 1,154 miles of coastline on Alaska's North Slope, a coastline that makes up the northern border of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). Coastal erosion is most noticeable from Drew Point to Cape Halkett, especially near Pogik Bay. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Benjamin Jones and his colleagues recently researched the average erosion rates along ... Read more>

Archaeology Family Day at UAF

Thanks to two BLM-Alaska Fairbanks District archaeologists, families attending the University of Alaska Museum Archaeology Family Day on Dec. 10 got their hands dirty and excavated real artifacts. The sandbox dig was part of learning about the ancient history of Alaska, different aspects of archaeology, and how to make ulus and clay pots from archaeologists Robin Mills and Stacie McIntosh. Read more>

Historic Eagle Cannonball Provides Excitement – and a Safety Reminder

It was Eastern Interior Field Office archeologist Robin Mills who received the memorable phone call. An Eagle resident had an old cannonball at her residence, and she was concerned it might still be dangerous. Mills passed the information on to the BLM’s hazardous materials and safety specialists. Read more>

Paleontologist announces discovery of new horned dinosaur species on BLM lands in Alaska

Weighing in at about four tons, standing seven feet high on four legs and about 18 feet long, it’s roughly the size of an elephant, eats plants, and is from the Late Cretaceous, around 70 million years ago. Paleontologist Anthony R. Fiorillo, Ph.D., and his team discovered this new species of ceratopsid (horned) dinosaur Pachyrhinosaurus near the Colville River on BLM-managed lands in Alaska. Fiorillo, from the Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas, Tex., announced the discovery of Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 71st Annual Meeting Nov. 2-5 in Las Vegas, Nev. Read more>

This year for the first time, the Public Lands Foundation is honoring an Alaska group with its national Landscape Stewardship Award. The Copper River Watershed Project, created in the late 1990’s to benefit communities and promote sustainable development along the Alaska’s vast and sparsely populated Copper River and its tributaries, has made a positive difference promoting stewardship of BLM-managed lands. Read more>

BLM-Alaska Weed Warriors attack moose-killer invasive trees

Last summer, interns working on the BLM’s 730-acre BLM Campbell Tract near its Campbell Airstrip trailhead and Campbell Creek in Anchorage discovered several infestations of a tree that’s poisonous to moose. The invasive European Bird Cherry or Mayday trees can kill moose, in a city where hundreds of moose are found within its limits, especially during the winter. Read more>